Faith Loves

How are we all doing? Are we feeling beat up from this series in James yet? If not, go grab some podcasts from the previous weeks, a cup of coffee and prepare to be repeatedly soul-punched by the brother of Jesus.

I hope you’ve also come to see over the past several weeks that the purpose of our study in James isn’t just to beat you up, or make you feel inadequate as a believer. The goal of our study in James is to help take us past a shell of a religion that simply keeps us occupied for an hour plus on a Sunday morning and to take us to a faith that actually works - that actually means something to our daily lives and make a difference in our communities.

More than just

One of the main problems Christianity faces today is the problem of irrelevance. Christianity and the church no longer have an automatic place in people’s lives as the number of people rises who claim no affiliation to any faith.

If you truly want to advance the mission of God in a culture where Christianity is relegated (at best) to one worldview among many, than we need to live lives that show a faith that works.

*You cannot show the world a faith that works if you are not living out a faith that is working.

I love James because he is writing to groups of believers who are living in a society where they are marginalized at best, and section after section of his letter is used to smoke out old vestiges of dead religion and, with words that echo his brother Jesus, call the church to live out the faith they claim to believe.

This section is actually a followup to last week in calling us to be doers of the Word and not hearers only. It is also a lead into the central theme of the book which we will see next week - the idea that faith in your life, if it does not have any fruit, is no faith at all.

ILLUSTR - crazy prejudice of Eagles fans. If you walk into Lincoln Financial Field wearing a Dallas shirt on gameday, you may be a very nice person on the outside, but I guarantee you Philly fans will make a prejudiced, external distinction about you. Meaning, you’ll be lucky to leave alive.

These are the fans that beat up mascots, throw snowballs at Santa, shoot flares across the stadium, and, at one point, actually had a jail cell in the stadium.

Let me put it in a language you’ll understand: Notre Dame and Purdue. Some of y’all are angry that I just touched the sacred - we’re going to smash some idols up in here today!

If you have a Bible. . .

James 2:1–13 ESV

1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? 8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

**Pray**

Right out of the gate James throws a soul punch and states the point of this next section of the letter.

‘Show no partiality’ (favoritism)

How many of you showed “partiality” this past week? How many of you used the word ‘partiality’ this past week?

I don’t want us to fall into the trap of ‘Christianese’ = words, thoughts, and ideas that we hear at church or religious circles that we really can’t see how they connect to daily life.

break down the work means to ‘bring or set before your face.’

‘Partiality’ = moving your face toward or away from someone based on an external assessment of their lack of worth or perceived value to you.

Par

= prejudice

'The sin of partiality is one of the most subtle of all sins. Partiality reveals a non-Christian sense of values. God shows no favoritism () and neither can His followers.’

To judge someone to be worth less than you based on external circumstances (how they look, dress, smell - their race, their gender, their struggle with identifying their gender) or any external factor is completely inconsistent with a Christian character because it is completely inconsistent with God’s character:

In writing about the ju

Romans 2:11 ESV

For God shows no partiality.

Deuteronomy 10:17–18 ESV

17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. 18 He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.

Leviticus 19:15 ESV

15 “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.

“it is whether we put the Lord’s glory first in our scale of values or whether, all the time or from time to time, we allow ourselves rather to be led by the standards of this world as to what is worthy and worth-while. James Adamson catches the needs of the passage exactly when he says that the verb ‘indicates their “facing both ways” … nominally to Christ and actually to worldly snobbery”

Essentially, if we boiled down

True faith is expressed through real unfiltered love.

Three implications that flow from the command to ‘show no partiality:’

We cannot look down on others while we are looking up to Jesus. (1)

‘show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.’

show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.’

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016), .

Be aware of the gap between you and the Lord of glory.

‘glory’ is used more than 300 times throughout Bible. At it’s most basic understanding it has the idea of weightiness - not like too much Chick-fil-A, but a seriousness that leaves you with a weight.

We’re talking about Jesus:

Colossians 1:15–17 ESV

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

col 1:15-

Colossians 1:19–20 ESV

19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Colossians 1:20 ESV

20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

How can I possibly judge a perceived gap in value and worth if I realize the REAL gap in value and worth between myself and the Lord of glory.

(The right perspective brings humility)

Be grateful that the Lord of glory bridged the gap.

This Lord of glory modeled for us a mercy so strong and love so fierce that it crossed the boundaries of time and space - of holy and sinful.

Jesus looked down on you because of his position, and came down to you because of his love.

Different than the example James gives us here - Jesus didn’t simply allow us in our dirty rags to enter his presence and thereby model for us mercy and a lack of prejudice - he left his place, put on the dirty rags, entered my world, and invited me to his.

Catch the irony here - we claim a faith that follows THAT Jesus - the only reason which we are following is because Jesus took no account of the gap between us - and then turn around and scoff at the idea of bridging the gap of someone who is different from us.

Jesus crossed every external barrier to set us before his face - to bring man to God - what right could we possibly think of to allow any external difference between a man and man to allow us to judge another’s value as less than our own.

The more you look to Jesus, the more you see the difference between you and Jesus, the more you understand the beauty of the gospel that bridged the gap between you and Jesus. (Bigger view of God, greater understanding of our sin, deeper appreciation of the gospel)

(We cannot look down on others while we are looking up to Jesus.)

We cannot be a community formed by God’s mercy and yet show no mercy. (2-7)

James now gives a practical example showing partiality that some commentators believe may have been an actual issue in some of the churches to whom James is writing.

James 2:2–7 ESV

2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

I love how James points out how this all happens at church, right?

‘assembly’ - could be church, Life Group, small gathering of believers.

Acts 2:42 ESV

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Likely visitors - so all the church has to judge by is external values.

Acts 2:42–46 ESV

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,

The point of the example was (I believe) to do more than deal with a particular issue at a particular church.

I think it can ring true with all of us in order to:

Let Jesus expose your prejudice.

What type of people do you avoid? Who are the ‘they’ that you keep from 'setting before your face?’

Who do you prefer? Who do you purposefully try to be around, participate with because they can benefit you in some way (where others cannot)?

The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Letter of James 1. Discrimination in the Community Is Wrong (2:1–7)

The improper “division” being made between rich and poor reflects the improper “divisions” harbored in the minds of the believers. Consistently Christian conduct comes only from a consistently Christian heart and mind

**There cannot not be a category of persons that we would shy away from welcoming into our church, group, or home.

age

gender

gender confusion

economic status

ethnicity

sexual identity

ILLUST - we have had to wrestle with these thoughts during the foster care and adoption process.

- Peter and Cornelius

As we said earlier, prejudice is a subtly invasive sin born from the whiffs of pride in our life. Just because we’ve been Christians for a long time does not make us immune.

Galatians 2:11–13 ESV

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

Gal 2:11-

Prejudice within the church

our individual hearts toward others

Prejudice of the church

I wonder in what ways we, the church as a whole, make judges of ourselves as we turn our faces on our own needs and comforts such that we spend a crazy amount of money, time, and energy into satisfying those who might attend the church rather than meeting the needs of those who NEED the church.

Do we have our face set toward our rich culture - expecting things for our comfort and ease while neglecting the church around the world.

Let us express God’s love.

Contrast this with:

Acts 2:42–46 ESV

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,

Uncommon generosity born from an uncommon love

1 Peter 2:10 ESV

10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Prejudice within the church

If we, as the church, truly are a community formed be God’s mercy, then we must set the pace for correcting the sin of prejudice and favoritism.

Prejudice of the church

One practical way to do this is to set before our face those that others have turned away from (James’ example of the poor)

Operation Christmas Child

*Video*

3 Ways to 300

There are many ways we could accomplish showing mercy - there are many ways in which you have already done so. This is the way we have chosen to unify and support in order to show an uncommon generosity born out of an uncommon love.

If Granger Missionary Church can come up with at least 300 shoeboxes, we will have intentionally brought 300 of the poorest people into our circle of influence and, instead of judging with evil thoughts, we will offer Jesus through Christmas gifts!

(We cannot be a community formed by God’s mercy and yet show no mercy.)

We cannot expect mercy if we show no mercy. (8-13)

Our faith should have mercy because our faith was founded on mercy

James 2:8–11 ESV

8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

Check your religious heart. (8-11)

You cannot keep God’s law (of love).

Love alone can fulfill the law.

Only Jesus has that love.

If you are not merciful, you are likely not full of (God’s) mercy.

Live out your true faith. (12-13)

James 2:12–13 ESV

12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

We should speak and act as those whose who are being judged by the gospel.

This means we are not judged by the works that we do to earn faith, we are judged by our faith as evidenced by our works.

True faith is expressed through real unfiltered love.

Conclusion

So what are we going to do with what we have just heard so that we don’t begin the process of deceiving ourselves into hearers only.

In what ways do you need a bigger picture of Jesus, the Lord of glory? How will that affect how you view others in your family, at work, sleeping on the park bench? How are you going to bring to your mind and heart a greater understanding of who Jesus is in order to gain a greater understanding of the cost of your soul and the value of everyone else’s?

committing to daily time in Word and prayer.

Who are the people you would rather avoid? The people you would clamor to have with you because of what they can do for you?

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